Grimmerie: Another Bite of Wrong
by wickedmetalviking1990
Summary: Sequel to "A Stumble in the Dark". Not only has the Grimmerie survived, but it has fallen into the wrong hands! Can Glinda and Elphaba save Oz from both the Wizard and the power of the Grimmerie before all is lost? AU, Gelphie, rated T.
1. The Aftermath

**(AN: Hello again! Here we are with, believe it or not, a sequel to _A Stumble in the Dark_. [with a title also taken from the _Heaven and Hell_ song "Bible Black", the basis of the last story]. For those of you who may be new to this story, you might want to go back and read _A Stumble in the Dark_. This is somewhat AU, so things won't be the same, technically.)**

**(Hope you enjoy it)**

* * *

><p><strong>The Aftermath<strong>

Trism bon Cavalish was on the march with Captain Cherrystone's unit back to the Emerald City. Whatever had happened to the guards was anyone's guess.

But their journey to Center Munch had not been without fruit. They had found another body, another victim for Madam Morrible's propaganda machine. Soon nobody would believe the green freak was anything but the Wicked Witch of the West. Now they had the body to prove it. And the former Captain of the Gale Force, a prince of the Winkies no less! Surely his death would upset the West and rout the Witch out of whatever hole wherein she had been hiding.

Mockbeggar Hall was pretty much the last stop for those on the Yellow Brick Road until they reached the Emerald City, if they were to be benighted ere they reached the Capital. This was the case with the company. Although they were technically in Munchkinland, this was so close to the Emerald City that many travelers (and Gale Force soldiers) would spend the night there just the same.

But for a certain member of Captain Cherrystone's unit, he would find more than he bargained for in these halls.

Or, perhaps, he had brought with him more than he bargained for?

* * *

><p>That night all the soldiers were asleep. Being in his late teens meant that Trism was a squire, a page to the Captain. He ran the errands, cleaned their boots, and sometimes carried a musket, since he was in training. But the others never really saw him as a soldier yet. To them, he was too young.<p>

The Captain told him to wait a few years, give it time, but Trism didn't want to wait. He wanted their respect now, dammit!

These thoughts buzzed through his head like Quadling marsh-flies as he, the last one up, was trying at last to fall asleep, his work done.

All of a sudden, there came a noise upon the wind. Like the sound of a breath whispered so faintly that only complete, utter silence and a clear mind could have caught its noise. Being the only one awake, Trism heard what the voice muttered, even if only half-heard.

_Open me_

He looked around, but saw nobody around. Thinking it was just his imagination, he closed his eyes and drifted back into sleep.

_Open me_

The voice was only half-a-whisper louder, now he could hear it even if he told himself that it didn't really exist. There was no denying that someone, or some_thing_ was speaking to him. It was so loud, now, that he could perceive where it was coming from.

Carefully, he reached into his sack, just beneath where he sat, and pulled out the book he had recovered from Center Munch. Once more the violet light flooded his face as he opened the book and began turning through the pages...

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: <strong>**It's a good way to start, I guess)**

**(Any questions? We'll be getting back to our two main characters shortly. And yes, this is _musical_-verse, though no longer song-verse [unless I can come up with something amazing for Elphaba/Glinda to sing].)**


	2. Stranger

**(AN: Here we go, our two main characters appear again...and something 'strange' happens.)**

**(Don't worry, it's all good [or _is_ it? -wicked laughter-])**

* * *

><p><strong>Stranger<strong>

"What should we do with her?" Glinda asked.

She and Elphaba were back at Kiamo Ko. With them was a little girl who couldn't have been a year over ten. She had reddish-brown hair, tied up into two pig-tails that hung down on her shoulders, and she wore a checked dress of blue and white. In her arms was this tiny black thing that yapped in a very annoying voice.

The two women turned to look at the little girl, and they noticed that she was staring at the taller of the two.

"What are you looking at?" Elphaba asked.

The little girl didn't say anything, she just kept her eyes fixated on the tall, green-skinned woman.

"Oh, do I have something in my teeth?" Elphaba asked, her tone heavy with sarcasm. Glinda was hard-pressed to repress ancient memories of a time before the Grimmerie, of a time before she had realized just how alike they were.

She was also hard-pressed to stifle the smiles and giggles that came with that memory.

"Nothing, ma'am," the little girl shook her head. "It's just, well, you're green."

"Yeah, so what?" Elphaba almost growled. How did Elphie ever get that sassy, Glinda asked herself.

"Oh, why, pardon me," the girl returned. "But it's just that, well, nobody's green back where I come from."

_Back where I'm from_, Elphaba mused. _You sound like the Wizard_.

"And just where are you from?" Glinda asked.

"Look here," the little girl said. "I don't know what this is all about. The last thing that I remember, me 'n Toto were in our house and we got swept away in the twister!"

"Dodo? What's a Dodo?" Glinda asked.

"_Toto_," Dorothy returned, holding the little black thing up. It yapped at Glinda.

"Oh, sweet Oz!" she exclaimed, taking a step back.

"Then I wake up," the little girl continued. "And I hear these strange noises, like something's going wrong outside the house. I peek outside the window and there's nothing but black smoke everywhere. Then you two show up and pull me out of the house and say I should come with you. I shouldn't be here, Aunt Em told me not to talk to strangers."

"My name is Glinda," the blond said. "There, we're not strangers anymore."

The girl cracked half-a-smile. "I'm Dorothy Gale, from Kansas." she returned, holding out a little hand to shake Elphaba's. She looked at it curiously before giving it a slight quiver in her own hand.

"What's a Kansas?" Glinda asked.

"Why, that's where I'm from!" Dorothy said.

"But why are you here?"

It was Elphaba who had spoken. Dorothy and Glinda turned to the green woman.

"Oh, don't mind me," she said. "I just had a thought, that's all."

"What is it, Elph..." But before Glinda said anything, she turned back to Dorothy and mouthed _Just give us a minute_.

_Okay_, the little girl whispered back.

Glinda and Elphaba departed to a side room in the castle.

"Elphie, what's wrong?" Glinda asked.

"She shouldn't be here," Elphaba returned. "She hasn't got a clue. The moment the Wizard finds her, she'll be whisked away to the Southstairs."

"Then let's keep her!"

"We can't keep her!" Elphaba retorted. "Just look at her! She's a child!"

"So?"

"This is war! We can't be dragging a child after us!"

"But we can't just leave her here!" Glinda said. "Look at her! If she's as unstable to be blown here in her house by a twister, any old gale could just sweep her off her feet..."

Glinda suddenly came to a halt.

"And what?" Elphaba asked.

"I just remembered something," Glinda said. "The night before I found you...or _you_ found us."

"What about it?"

"I was flying over Munchkinland in the Wizard's bubble machine..." Elphaba could barely suppress a snicker from escaping her lips. "What?"

"What in Oz's name is a bubble machine?"

"Something the Wizard, or Madam Morrible, made for me, before I...before Fiyero and I left to go find you," Glinda said. "It's supposed to take me around Oz and places, flying like."

"Sounds silly enough to be one of the Wizard's inventions," Elphaba said. "Even if it wasn't, I'm sure he'd take credit for it. And what kind of person comes and goes around Oz in a bubble?"

Glinda bit her lower lip.

"That's not important, Elphie," she continued. "While I was flying, I saw something crash near Munchkinland. At first I thought it was you, but I think it was her house."

Elphaba stepped back, a hand resting on her green temple, as she tried to probe her mind, try to come up with some thoughts, some idea of what was going on at that time.

"Elphie, what's going on?"

"I don't know," she replied. "I don't remember everything clearly, but...there was a green hall, and there were voices, two of them. They were arguing over how best to capture me. They'd tried and failed a lot of times, apparently. Then the one, Madam Morrible, I think, she remembered something about me."

"What did she remember?"

"Nessa," Elphaba said at last.

* * *

><p>The broom came to a jerking halt just a few inches above the ground. Elphaba got off unceremoniously, followed by Glinda and Dorothy. They didn't feel safe leaving her at Kiamo Ko. The green woman was now walking over to the farm-house, looking around at the floor-boards, seeing if she could find it.<p>

"What's she doing?"

"Quiet, Dorothy." Glinda said. "Elphaba needs to think."

Minutes later, Elphaba came back, a look of disappointment on her face. Only mild disappointment.

"She's not here," Elphaba said at last. "Not a trace. Not even those damn slippers."

"Elphie!" Glinda whispered. "Watch the language."

"Oh, that's nothing," Dorothy pipped up. "I've heard Uncle Henry say sh..."

"Shut up already!" Elphaba snapped.

Dorothy made a face, and then the little black thing started yapping.

"And your little dog too!" Elphaba returned.

"Hey!" Dorothy snatched the dog up in her arms. "Don't you hurt Toto!"

"She's not going to hurt Lotto, Doodoo."

"What did you call me?"

"Glinda has a thing about forgetting peoples' names." Elphaba stated.

"Elphie, what's wrong?" Glinda asked, turning around to the pacing green woman.

"It makes sense now!"

"What makes sense?"

"Yeah, what makes sense?" Dorothy asked.

"The twister!" Elphaba said, pointing at Dorothy. "The one you say swept your house away. And Glinda, you said there was a storm that swept a small black object into Munchkinland. Well, this is it!"

"Elphie, that could be a coinkidink!"

"A what?" both Elphaba and Dorothy asked.

"A bizarre and unexpected twister of fate!"

"No, no, there's a connection! Someone created that storm, someone wanted to bring me out of hiding. That's why the guards were there, who picked you up." Then she paused.

"We have to get back to the castle," she said. "It's not safe out in the open. If they tried this once, they might try it again."

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: Oh look! It's Dorothy! And double surprise, her house <em>didn't<em> kill Nessarose!)**

**(As I said before, this is AU. Nessa wasn't in Center Munch at the time Dorothy's house came down, so that's why Elphaba didn't find a body. Poor Nessa's fate will be decided later, though.)**

**(Next chapter is going to be good - maybe not story-wise, but I think you'll love it. So just wait)**


	3. Pink

**(AN: I have big plans, _Maeline_, for all of our characters. And I usually don't ship gelphie, but the _Grimmerie_ series is sort of an experiment with trying a _gelphie_ story. All I can say is that you're wise not to get your hopes up.)**

**(I promise I'll be getting back to the story, but 1] I don't want too many cut-aways to Trism or the Wizard or Madam Morrible, kind of undermines the villain if we know what they're doing every two seconds and 2] those 'big plans' I have are really _really_ dark, and so I need some kind of light, fluffy chapter to keep our spirits up before we get serious!)**

**(All names of places in Shiz and the Emerald City come from _Out of Oz_, and there will be various humorous references to both that, _Wicked_ the musical and the _Oz_-series, when appropriate. So enjoy!)  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Pink<strong>

Though Elphaba definitely knew that it was not safe, she also knew that they could not live in Kiamo Ko with no more rations. The food she had brought for Glinda lasted those several months, and now it was gone. And with another mouth to feed for an indefinite amount of time, they would need more food.

But there were other places safer of travel for the looking of supplies than Shiz. It was only a few short miles from the Emerald City, the seat of the Wizard's power. Why she was taking them here, however, was beyond Glinda's understanding.

So there they were, looking for a market near Railway Square. Elphaba had gloves and a hood thrown over her head: the hat was back at Kiamo Ko. Glinda, who also would be noticed in her usual frilly, sparkly attire, wore an old dress of Elphaba's that was too big for her to fit in again. It was with a twinge of regret that Glinda noticed exactly which dress it was she was now wearing - the one that Elphaba wore that day in the attic of the Emerald Palace.

"I can't believe you talked me into wearing this-this..." Glinda stuttered as she looked down at this plain black dress. The skirt was far too long for her liking, and no other bit of skin was shown other than her hands and her face.

"Black goes good with blond," Elphaba replied cheekily.

"If you're at a funeral, then yes," she hissed back. "Oh, Oz, whatever happened to my clothes!"

"Didn't you have them brought over to the Emerald City when you moved there?" Elphaba asked.

"Yeah, but it's too dangerocious going back there."

"Excuse me?" Dorothy perked up. "What's 'dangerocious'?"

"Oh, look at this!" Glinda exclaimed. "This girl doesn't know the Universal Ozian dialect. By Preenella's wand, what do they teach in schools back at Kansas!"

"Lots of things, but I've never heard of Preenella or Universal Ozian."

"Just stay with me, Dodo," Glinda said. "I'll show you the ropes."

"It's Dorothy, actually."

"That's so..." Glinda made a noise. "Can I call you 'Dory'?"

"It's a little..."

"Perky?" Elphaba queried.

"Elphie, would you cut it out?"

"Could you please be quiet with the E-word!" Elphaba hissed.

"Why?" Glinda whispered. "Nobody knows you by that name."

"What do they know you by?" Dorothy asked.

"We're still in enemy territory," the green woman said. "Why I ever allowed you to convince me to come out here is beyond me."

"We're starving," Glinda returned. "We don't need flying houses coming after us if we're dying of starvation."

"We're not dying, Glinda dear." Elphaba replied, with a smile and a roll of her eyes. "I've gone for weeks without food."

"Well, good for you! But I haven't!"

* * *

><p>Several minutes passed and the trio found themselves at a bakery that sat by an old coffee shop near the Station. Where Elphaba got the money for their food, however, Glinda did not know and did not ask. Food was on her mind right now. As fortune would have it, Dorothy had a little wicker basket with her, into which they put their food.<p>

"Might as well be useful," Elphaba had said.

Two loaves of bread, a small wheel of cheese, a very small ("...and very cute" in Glinda's words) tub of butter and some corn from Munchkinland - the rare golden kind - was what they bought. Dorothy asked why they didn't have any meat, which Glinda also repeated.

"It's a long story," Elphaba said. "Let's just say that certain Munchkin-butchers don't care if the veal they're cutting came from a cow or a Cow."

Glinda felt ashamed for asking. She knew Elphaba was sensitive about the cause of Animals. That's what had caused this mess in the first place.

Elphaba had the broom underneath her cloak, but would not mount up until they were outside the town walls and out of sight. They were now making for the gate near the Peach and Kidney Pub. As they were walking, they saw an enrollment poster for St. Prowd's Academy in town. It had the cheesiest of slogans written across the picture of many smiling young students.

_We're proud to be Prowd's_.

"Why can't we just drop her off at St. Prowd's?" Elphaba asked.

"Elphaba, what a thing to say!"

"I mean, come on, Glinda!" she returned. "It's insane, dragging a little girl into the Wizard's war. This isn't her war, and she could get hurt."

"And _she's_ still here!" Dorothy pipped up. "I'm ten-years-old, gosh darnit! I shouldn't be treated like a child!"

"Ten's young to twenty-five, or thirty-eight."

"Is that how old you are?" Dorothy asked. "Twenty-five and thirty-eight?"

She pointed first at Glinda, then at Elphaba, as she spoke.

"She just called you old, Elphie!" Glinda giggled.

"Just shut up!" she snapped at Dorothy. "No, I'm not thirty-eight! Now come on!"

They continued walking down the street, the gate just a few blocks ahead. It was even in viewing distance. As they passed by the Peach and Kidney, Elphaba told them to wait for her while she went into the pup alone. Glinda and Dorothy stood seemingly forgotten on the side of the street, looking this way and that wistfully.

"Is she always like that?" Dorothy asked.

"Hmm?"

"El-Fa-buh," Dorothy said. "Is she always so grouchy?"

"I don't know," Glinda said. "I'm just her girlfriend. And it's 'Elphaba'."

"Didn't I say that?"

"No, you said 'el-Fa-buh'."

"Ain't that the same thing?"

"No, that _ain't_ the same thing!" Glinda returned. "I didn't spend almost two years at Shiz studying Linguification not to positively perfect the pronunciation of the names of every person I meet!"

"Wow! That was a mouthful!" Dorothy exclaimed.

Glinda smiled, then turned her eyes about. Suddenly she gasped the loudest, most ear-piercing, girlish gasp she could ever emit.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"I don't believe it!"

"Believe what?"

Glinda ran into the alley behind the Peach and Kidney, hands up to the level of her eyes and shaking over-dramatically. Dorothy followed after her.

"What's going on?"

But Glinda was now head-first in a very large trash-can. It was rather comical, to say the least. If Dorothy knew anything about Glinda's obsession with immaculate beauty, this would be even more comical and she would be busting at the sides with laughter.

Out she appeared, holding something filthy in her hands. Dorothy thought she saw a hint of pink in this old, ragged thing that Glinda had apparently lifted out of the trash-can.

Just then, Elphaba appeared on the other side with a brown paper bag in her hands. Glinda stowed the filthy thing under her cloak.

"There you are," Elphaba said. "Don't you have any sense to be walking in an alley?"

Glinda apologized and on they went. As they were walking out of the alley, with Elphaba's head turned back at Glinda, chiding her for doing such a foolish thing, she bumped into someone. The person was tall, about six feet, but did not look much bigger than Elphaba. So it was surprising when they bumped into each other that this tall, black-clad person did not even budge.

Whereas Elphaba was thrown to the ground, landing on her back.

"Watch it, cabbage!" the tall woman said, before walking off with the air of a queen.

This was quite alarming. Elphaba looked over herself, but could see no visible sign of her skin showing. This was not good: that person knew her by more than just her skin color, and that was quite disconcerting to say the least.

* * *

><p>Back at Kiamo Ko, the trio were in the kitchen. It was rather small, and very basic. An open fire-pit sat in the middle, with a very small flu that let smoke out through a hole in the north-wall. Glinda, who hadn't cooked a single meal in her life, sat with Dorothy by the warmth of the fire, while Elphaba was busy preparing. She usually found her own food, but did have to make food for Nessa (Father's orders), so she knew her way around the kitchen, to say the least.<p>

But it was not her favorite job.

"You really need to learn how to cook, Glinda," Elphaba said. "This isn't exactly my forte."

"You'll do fine," Glinda returned.

"Just keep an eye on the corn, will you?" Elphaba asked. "I don't want it to burn."

Elphaba then tore one of the loaves of bread apart, and used a knife to cut off hunks of cheese and gave these to Glinda and Dorothy.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Glinda asked.

"I'm not hungry," Elphaba stated.

"You _need_ to eat, Elphie!" Glinda insisted. "I'm pretty sure you've lost weight since Shiz, and it wasn't just that book."

"What book?" Dorothy asked.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you it's rude to listen to other peoples' conversations?" Elphaba asked.

"No, my mother's dead. So's my father."

"Just eat your food and don't interrupt!" Elphaba snapped.

They finished their meal in silence.

* * *

><p>Elphaba went up to the East tower, thinking of all that had happened in the past few months. It was all very fuzzy, large periods of time where she would draw nothing but a blank slate. What <em>exactly<em> had happened to her during that time?

And why did that strange woman know who she was?

"Elphie?" a voice asked from down the winding stair-case that led to the top of the east tower.

"Yes, dear?" Elphaba returned, half-jokingly, half-affectionately.

"Dorothy's asleep," Glinda returned. "Can I come up there?"

"Be my guest." Elphaba sighed.

Slowly, the sound of bare feet patting on the stone cold floor echoed up from the stair-well. Elphaba turned around, stifled a giggle and covered her face. She turned a slight shade of violet.

Standing there was Glinda, and she was wearing that frilly pink party frock that she had worn that night at the Oz-dust Ballroom.

"Where did you get that?" Elphaba asked.

"I found it in a trash-can outside the Peach and Kidney," Glinda said. "Dorothy and I cleaned it up."

"And how did you know it was yours?" Elphaba asked. "That's hardly a wise thing to do, pulling stuff out of the garb..."

Glinda walked over to Elphaba, turned around and pulled her hair back, revealing a tag that clung to the inside of the collar.

_H. Suserity__, Upper Uplands._

Beneath that was an untidy scrawl of _G. Upland_.

"This actually _was_ yours?" Elphaba asked. "But who would throw this away?"

"Remember when we went to the Emerald City?" Glinda asked.

"How can I forget?" Elphaba returned.

"After you invited me," Glinda said. "I pulled you off to the nearest store and bought new clothes."

"I remember," Elphaba said. "Nothing made Glinda happier than shopping."

"Well, we were going to meet the Wonderful Wizard of Oz," Glinda stated.

"'So called,'" Elphaba added, with quotation fingers raised.

"And I thought we needed some nice clothes," Glinda continued.

"_You_ needed some new clothes," Elphaba said.

"It was too much time to run back to Crage Hall and rummage through my wardrobe to find something appropriate then run back to the Train Station before it took off without me!"

"Rummaging through your wardrobe is something not even _I_ would want to do," Elphaba returned.

"Hey!" Glinda gave Elphaba a playful shove.

"So you left your clothes back at Shiz..." Elphaba continued.

"No, I brought as many as I could get," Glinda said. "But they must have missed this one."

They sighed, and Glinda's eyes looked over at the brown bag sitting on the table.

"What did you get at the pub?"

"Are you sure that little girl's asleep?" Elphaba asked.

"Why are you so mean to her?"

"Why are _you_ so nice to her?" Elphaba returned. "I'm beginning to think you want to adopt her."

"Elphie!"

"Well, you're acting like you want to be her mother or something!"

"She doesn't know anybody here," Glinda reasoned. "And she's far away from home and probably scared. If you were in her position, wouldn't you want someone to help you?"

"If I were in her position," Elphaba quickly-retorted. "I'd tell that yap-dog of hers to back down. I swear, it keeps looking at me as if it wants to bite my leg."

"And here I thought you loved Animals," Glinda commented.

"I do!" Elphaba replied. "It's just _that_ animal hates me."

"Have you tried talking to it?"

"I don't even know if it _can_," Elphaba mused. "Though I can't imagine a world where Animals can't speak. _That_ thing hasn't spoken yet."

"Well, sooner or later, Elphie, you'll have to reconcile with Miss Dorothy."

"She annoys me to no end."

"And I'm sure you scare her," Glinda laughed. "Now tell me what you got at the pub."

Elphaba rolled her eyes, then picked up the brown bag and revealed its contents. Glinda laughed when she saw what it was, though only for a moment.

* * *

><p>It was almost midnight. They were both in Glinda's bed-room. Elphaba had crashed out from the drinking and now could not move to save her life. Glinda hadn't drank that much, since she had another plan in mind.<p>

Making sure that Elphaba was asleep and the door closed, she crawled out of the bed and began removing the pink party frock. She then took the white-gray bed-sheet and tore it off Elphaba. This she wrapped around her person, then crawled back onto the bed. With great care, she began removing Elphaba's clothing, a snicker of delight on her face.

Not that she meant to have her way with her while Elphaba was passed out drunk. That was just too naughty. But there were other things she could do that would be harmless fun, especially with a passed out friend and a frilly pink dress.

"I was right, Elphie," Glinda whispered, trying hard not to laugh. "Pink _does_ go good with green."

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: Well, what do you know? This chapter has story-merit after all)<strong>

**(And I have no idea what 'sexual tension' is [still not quite sure what a 'Mary Sue' is either, since some use it as an insult against a morally-good female character or to describe overly-endowed and unrealistic super-characters], but of what I have heard of a certain definition about it, that means that we won't see what happens onscreen [or in text] at least until the end [-wink wink-] and even then, I don't know)**

**(_Hilfan Suserity_ is sort of an anagram of Susan Hilferty, the costume designer of _Wicked_. And that part about Glinda buying a dress between the Train Station scene and "One Short Day" is sort of based off of something Kristin Chenoweth said in her last show with Menzel ["Let's go to the Emerald City!", "Let's go shopping!"]. Though I think she probably _did_ run back to her room and pick out the yellow dress from her enormous wardrobe [I sort of think she had it with her since "Dear Old Shiz" in one of those giant boxes she was riding upon]. lol)  
><strong>

** (I think you can guess what's about to happen).  
><strong>


	4. Another Disappearance

**(AN: I'm glad you liked the last chapter. The idea, of course, came from the many shots of the actresses from _Wicked_ swapping costumes. As much as I'd love to have eons worth of humorous book/musical references in this story, I _do_ have to be getting to the story proper.)**

* * *

><p><strong>Another Disappearance<strong>

Elphaba woke up that morning with a profound head-ache. The memory of last night's drinking answering why she was so blurred. She was sleeping in Glinda's bed in Glinda's room of the castle.

Looking down at herself, she saw, with great shock, that she was also wearing Glinda's clothes. She screamed, very uncharacteristic of her. But then again, this was not her usual attire.

From somewhere down the castle halls, she could hear a voice laughing. It was a female voice, and a grown one at that.

At least, as 'grown' as that person could be called.

"Glinda!" she growled.

Jumping up to her feet, and realizing just how tall she was, and how this tiny pink frock showed more than enough of her body than she wished to be seen, Elphaba stormed out of the room. Standing there, with a bed-sheet wrapped around her body, and Elphaba's broom-stick in her hand, was Glinda.

"Elphie, please! Don't do anything you might regret?"

"Like what, turn you into a newt?" Elphaba returned.

"Well, that would be very regrettable..."

"What in Oz's name have you done to me?"

"You shouldn't have made me wear black!" Glinda retorted.

"I will strangle you!" Elphaba replied, making a lunge for her broom. Of course, the green woman didn't mean it. She was just hot with embarrassment. Glinda, however, was trying hard not to laugh.

"Oh, Elphie, you look so cute in pink!" she said.

"Glinda, I swear if anyone sees me like this..."

As if to compound this awkward moment, the squawk of one of the Flying Monkeys could be heard. They both turned to the sound, but then Elphaba grabbed the sheet off Glinda and pulled it over herself.

The little blond gave a yelp, and it was then that Elphaba noticed that she wasn't wearing anything else under the sheet.

"Elphie!" she whined.

"Serves you right for taking my clothes when I was asleep," Elphaba returned.

"But I'm..." She waved over herself.

"Well endowed?"

"Oh, Elphie..." Glinda blushed.

The noise of flapping wings sounded at the window that was just at hand.

So it was that Chistery found the Witch and her little blond friend, both of them wrapped together in a single bed-sheet.

"Oh, not the chalk-board again!" Elphaba sighed as Chistery started to write a note. "Chistery, you've got to at least try to speak. If you don't, you'll never remember how to speak again!"

But the Monkey wasn't listening. A quick scribble later, then he delivered the board and a rolled-up green newspaper into Elphaba's hands. Since she only had one, Glinda took the green newspaper and Elphaba the board.

_You should wear pink more often._ Elphaba gasped, then noticed a bit of frilly lace sticking out at a corner of the bed-sheet just below her hip.

Elphaba scowled and Chistery flew off before she could reprimand him for his behavior. Glinda, meanwhile, was opening the newspaper.

"Oh no!" she sighed. "Elphie, look!"

She handed the paper to Elphaba, who suddenly became a very pale shade of green.

"What's wrong, Elphie?"

"This can't be happening!" the green woman shook her head. "This _shouldn't_ be happening again! No, we destroyed it!"

"Elphie..."

A startled scream pulled them towards the hall. Standing there, with eyes as big as plates, was Dorothy. Looking down, Glinda noticed that she had let go of her part of the sheet. Uttering a nervous giggle and turning an abashed shade of pink, she endeavored to restore her modesty.

"Good morning, Dorothy," Glinda said. "Um, could you give us a moment?"

But Dorothy was too stunned to say anything or even move.

"Just go!" Glinda urged.

"Get!" Elphaba snapped.

That seemed to be enough _umph_ to get wee Dorothy out of the hallway.

"You do this to me again," Elphaba said to Glinda. "And I will hide all your clothes, so you'll have nothing to wear _but_ black!"

Glinda gasped in horror. "You wouldn't!"

"I just might!"

With a tug, she had taken the sheet with her back to Glinda's bedroom. Elphaba collapsed on the corner of the bed, staring pensively out the window. When Glinda, still wearing nothing, entered the room, she saw a very forlorn-looking Elphaba hunched over, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Elphie, what's wrong?" Elphaba didn't say anything. Glinda climbed onto the bed and wrapped her arms around Elphaba from behind.

"Mmm," she sighed against Elphaba's pink-clad green back.

Silence filled the castle. Only the rustle of the wind penetrated every crack and crevice, howling like the Oz-mists of Gilikin.

"They've happened again," Elphaba said.

"What's happened, dear?" Glinda sighed.

"Someone's disappeared."

Glinda lifted her head up from Elphaba's shoulders.

"B-But that only happened when..."

"I know," Elphaba returned. She was going over and over again the events of that morning in Center Munch, when they had destroyed the Grimmerie. Was it not enough? She was sure of her powers - thanks to Glinda's little pep-talk - and could have boiled the Restwater Lake if need be. But her fire, it seemed, was not strong enough...

She sighed in weary resignation.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: Short, but to the point)<strong>

**(Somewhere back in _A Stumble in the Dark_, Glinda transformed in my mind's eye into Louise Dearman. I love her, she's so adorable and has some of the cutest pictures of her as Glinda [you could put lol-speak subtitles to each one and they would make sense, she's that adorable]. _That_ is why _Grimmerie-Elphaba_ from _Elphaba is Plotting Against Me_ looked like Rachel Tucker. Originally she didn't really have a face, since it was being transformed by you-know-who [not Voldemort]. Now I'm just like 'What the hell, let her have that face')**

**(Silly stuff here, I know. Couldn't resist. As far as Glinda's physical measurements, I'll leave that to imagination. I've always imagined her being well-endowed [like Kristin Chenoweth], but that's just me.)**

**(Now it's time for the story! Stuff will start happening, so make sure you read well.)  
><strong>


	5. Bad Memories

**(AN: Okay, new chapter!)**

**(No apologies, no excuses, just a new chapter.)**

* * *

><p><strong>Bad Memories<strong>

"You can't do this to me!" the little girl squealed.

"Elphie, you can't do this to her!" Glinda echoed.

Elphaba locked Dorothy in the West Tower. Where they would be going, they could not afford to have a child tagging along with them, and a stranger from another world (and slightly insane, as Elphaba thought her to be) at that. Furthermore, she could not risk having Dorothy have the run of the castle.

"You'll be much safer in here," Elphaba said as she closed the door behind.

"But I wanna go with..."

The door was shut, and Elphaba turned the key in the lock. Click! Now Dorothy was locked away in the West Tower.

"Elphie!" Glinda, now clad in her pale blue bubble dress - one of the dresses Chistery had brought her from the Emerald City - retorted. "What if she needs to eat?"

"I'll have the Monkeys drop something in through the window." Elphaba said as she walked down the winding stair-well from the Tower. She was clad in her frayed and torn black dress.

"What if she has to...you know?"

"Spit it out, Glinda! We're all adults here!"

"Well, technically, I'm only twenty-two."

"That's adult-age, Glinda!"

"You know, if she has to pee or something..."

"I think there's a chamber pot in the West Tower," Elphaba replied.

"You think?"

"Glinda, we're not bringing her with us. She'll only drag us down."

"That's just wrong, leaving her locked up in the tower like that! What if something happens to her?"

"I'll have the Monkeys check up on her, to make sure she's not dead."

"Oh, well, you just think of everything, didn't you, Elphie?"

"Actually I did," the green woman replied. "So there'll be no quick escapes from the tower for wee little Dorothy. Now come on, let's go."

With Glinda bouncing after her, Elphaba ran to the East Tower, scaled the stairs in record time, then picked up her broom from off the wall and walked out to the open parapet.

"Grab on!" Elphaba quickly ordered as she swung her right leg over the broomstick. Glinda grabbed hold of Elphaba's shoulders, and with a sudden jolt, that felt quite literally like someone had tied a rope to her stomach and pulled very hard, they took off into the sky.

* * *

><p>Glinda didn't know how long they had been flying across Oz. Long enough, apparently, for the two of them to pass the Vinkus River down below. Now they were doing laps above Restwater Lake, staying just out of sight of the Emerald City.<p>

"Elphie!" Glinda called back from behind, where her tiny fingers were gripping iron-like into Elphaba's bony shoulders. "Are we going anywhere any time soon? I think I'm going to be sick!"

But Elphaba kept looking around, as if searching for something that had suddenly disappeared from her sight, or from her memory.

"How about Munchkinland? I want my bubble machine!"

"Your what machine?" Elphaba finally called back, Glinda's silly statement instantly catching her attention.

"My bubble machine! It crashed somewhere in Munchkinland. If I had it, we could find whatever it is you're searching for faster..."

"Wait, there it is!" she exclaimed.

Elphaba turned the broom eastward, but stopped several miles shy of the foothills of the Madelines. There, as if waiting for her, was the entrance to a cave sitting a little away from the rest of the mountain. It looked more like a miner's tunnel, but mines were rarely seen this far from the Glikkus Scalps.

"Where are we?" Glinda asked as they landed outside the mine-shaft entrance.

"I don't know," Elphaba replied. Her determined look at the gaping maw of the tunnel, however, seemed to belie what she was uttering from her lips.

"Well," Glinda stated, bouncing along behind her. "You sure act like you know where you're going."

"It's hard to explain," Elphaba paused at last, coming to a halt just at the mouth of the cave. "I know this before, because a friend from Ev helped me make this tunnel. It comes out just above the bank of the Lake."

"Who do you know from Ev?"

"Oh, he's just a traveler, mercenary-type," she replied. "Stiff-jointed, has a mean right punch. Major idealist, always talking about honor and duty to one's country." She scoffed. "Sounds like a Wizomaniac to me."

"Sounds like a certain green witch to me." Glinda added.

"My sense of patriotism is my skin," Elphaba replied drolly. "And my only duty is to the Animals of Oz." Elphaba snapped her fingers and a globe of fire the size of an orange floated just above the palm of her right hand. Using this as a light, she walked on into the tunnel, with Glinda following after her.

"You're getting good at that fire-spell," Glinda commented.

"Fire seems to come naturally," Elphaba replied. "_Some_ would say it's because I have a fiery personality, or _temper_, as my father would put it."

"How is your father, by the way?" Glinda asked. "I don't recall you ever mentioning him much, except..."

"He's dead," Elphaba stated. "Died three years ago." Though how she knew this, she could not rightly explain.

"I'm sorry."

"It's better that way. He never loved me, and now..." Elphaba paused.

"Now what?"

"Now we keep going," Elphaba resumed. A few moments of awkward silence as Glinda noted that Elphaba's answer was not in line with what she had been saying beforehand.

"So you met this mercenary guy from Ev, and..."

"He helped me with the Animals, seemed to think it was a worthy cause."

"That was very nice of him."

Elphaba chuckled. "He didn't do it for free, you know. He asked me to help him with his vendetta against some Evian princess who's a little too heady for her own good."

"Well, are you gonna?"

Elphaba laughed. "I have my hands full here in Oz! Do you know how much I'd have to accomplish before even _considering_ that? The Wizard would have to be out of power, Madam Morrible put behind bars and Oz well on its way to restoring Animal Rights. That's hardly something I can accomplish overnight, you know."

"But, supposing you _could_ do it all soon, would you still help this Evian friend of yours?"

"No. Let him fight his own battles for a change."

"Elphaba!"

"His petty personal vendetta is none of my business."

"That's mean!"

Just then, the sound of bleating could be heard from deeper within the tunnel.

"Did you hear that, Elphie?" Glinda asked.

"Yes," Elphaba nodded. "It's a Sheep."

"A sheep?"

"Sheep, Glinda. About a week ago, I remember helping a Sheep janitor out of Shiz when she lost her job. I brought her and her children out here, but didn't have time to find her husband."

Minutes later, a very crazed looking Sheep with scraggly brown wool, covered with burs and bits of dried hay, crawled out into the light of Elphaba's fiery orb.

"Who's there?" he asked. The voice was distinctly male. "I know you're there, even if...even if I can't see you." His voice broke off into a long train of incoherent baaing and bleating.

"He doesn't have much time!" Elphaba cried. "He's losing his voice!" With one hand still on the fire-orb, she knelt down at the Sheep's side and placed her arm around his neck. "Mr. Frym, can you hear me? Listen, whatever you do, keep speaking!"

"I...I...I think I can see something," the Sheep said again, his voice calming down. "Yes, there's a f-f...and f-f-f-f..."

"Fire?" Elphaba helped.

"Yes, that's it! A fire! There's so much light! And, I see your face." Suddenly the Sheep's whole voice and demeanor changed.

"Where is my wife? Where are my children? What have you done with them, you monster!"

"Elphie!" Glinda cried out, throwing her hands over her ears.

"They trusted you!" Mr. Frym the Sheep continued. "You betrayed them! They're true! They're wicked, cruel people in the City, but they were right about you!"

"What's he saying?"

"Give them back to me, if you can, you witch! Give them baaaa..." The Sheep broke off into incoherence once again.

Elphaba did not move, she did not even try to resuscitate the Sheep as he began losing his speech. Something else seemed to be clouding her memory, robbing her of the strength to do...anything...

* * *

><p><em>Don't touch it! It's dangerous!<em>

_Has there been any word from my husband?_

_Where's daddy?_

_I know what you are. Don't you see? It's over. You've lost!_

_Elphaba Thropp is dead_.

First the voices, a cacophony of sound so loud, so tumultuous and so dissonant it made Elphaba want to scream, cry, tear her hair out, cover her ears. Then came the images. A dark room in the Thropp Family mansion in Colwen Grounds, this very cave, the fields outside Center Munch, a figure clad in black dragging something heavy toward a large pit, where a dozen whitened forms were moldering, flies bloating upon them.

With a shiver, Elphaba knew exactly what those forms were, and who that figure was, even as the distorted green face appeared.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: As with <em>A Stumble in the Dark<em>, I've learned that to build up suspense, don't let the cat out of the bag until the time is right.)**

**(However, I do like that little reference to Langwidere as being that 'Evian princess who's too heady for her own good'. And as for the "mercenary", read _Ozian Adventures: The Land_ or _The Great War of Oz: Revisited_ for more about him. My stories operate in separate universes that are unique and separate from each other, but I will make cross-references to them, mostly just for fun.)**


	6. The Next Victim

**(AN: As per the demands of my starving readers, I'm bringing out a new chapter in this story. I had planned on doing a cut-away to the Wizard and Madam Morrible, but in the end, it felt really pointless and didn't move much along plot-wise.)**

**(Sorry for the wait, it has been hell. But no more excuses, here's the chapter)  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>The Next Victim<strong>

It was dark when they left the mouth of the cave. It was barely mid-day when they entered, and they did not stay long enough in the darkness of the tunnel for night to fall. The wind, also, was blowing about quite a gale around Glinda and Elphaba as they emerged.

"What in Oz's name just happened?" Glinda queried.

Elphaba said nothing. Her eyes were now on the emerald haze north-west of their current position. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, she knew that a certain sorceress in service to the Wizard was conjuring that storm, just as sure as she knew that self-same sorceress had caused the last storm that Glinda told her about.

"Quick!" Elphaba shouted. "Get on!" She flipped out the broom.

"What? Are you crazy? We can't go out in this storm!"

"I need to get to the Emerald City," Elphaba said. "Right now!"

"But why? That's enemy territory!"

"I don't know why, I just feel like that's the place to be right now." She turned about. "Are you coming or not?"

Glinda hesitated for a moment, in fear of the weather, but suddenly she took hold of Elphaba's shoulders and away they went into the dark, stormy sky.

The wind blew against them so harshly that Elphaba could barely keep her eyes open, and it almost hurt to stand up against the rushing gales.

_Whoosh!_ A tiny white thing flew past Elphaba's head on the left.

"Watch out!" she called back.

Another one whizzed over their heads. Then another on the left, then two on the right. A blast of fire and an acrid smell of sulfur filled their nostrils, then came a wave of tiny pieces of ice in various stages of melting. Though it was nigh impossible to make out anything over the rush of the wind, Glinda was almost certain she heard Elphaba hiss as the ice pieces hit her face.

Suddenly, as quickly as the hail had come, it was now starting to subside. A huge funnel of black dust and wind coalesced upon the ground before them. Elphaba felt strong winds tug at her hair and her cloak, and Glinda's hands dug a little deeper into her shoulders. It was painful, but Elphaba relished this pain: it would be much worse if the pain was gone, for then Glinda wouldn't be on the broom anymore, and they were now so high up that falling meant death.

"Oh sweet Oz!" Glinda breathed to herself.

A second, a third...no wait, _three_ more cyclones appeared. Now six heavy funnels of powerful winds were closing in on Elphaba's broom from all sides. Suddenly, something green flew out of Elphaba's bag. With a jolt, she turned the broom down and made a nose-dive towards the emerald earth to catch the tiny green thing that was falling. Behind her, Glinda was now screaming for dear life, fearing that Elphaba had finally lost it.

The wind was now so strong that Glinda's hands were trembling as they held onto Elphaba's shoulders. The six cyclones had now come together in one great super-twister that was swiftly closing in upon them.

"Elphie!" Glinda cried out as loud as she could. One of her hands slipped off Elphaba's shoulder.

A brief moment, her other hand waved. Then a green hand appeared and held onto Glinda's outstretched, flailing hand. Behind them the wind began to die down. The two made a remarkable landing on the grass in a clearing just outside a field of poppies on the outskirts of the Emerald City.

* * *

><p>When Glinda awoke, she found herself on top of Elphaba. For one brief moment, she wondered if she were now dead. Then she saw that they were both clothed, and noticed her hair was wind-swept and well falling out of its curled state. Elphaba was lying face-down in the grass.<p>

"Elphie, wakey wakey!"

The green woman stirred beneath her, turned over, and gave her a playful smirk.

"What have you been doing now, Glinda?" Elphaba asked.

"Oh, Elphie!" Glinda gasped, reaching up to touch the green cheek, now stained with a tiny sliver of crimson. "You're bleeding."

"Am I?"

"Does it sting?"

"Not when you don't touch it, it doesn't," Elphaba said in her usual dry wit. "Now will you please get off me?"

Glinda complied, although she was rather disappointed. "One of these days, Elphie."

"I don't have time to think about myself right now," she said. "I've done too much damage, I need to repair that first."

"What damage have you done?"

Elphaba paused.

"Elphie?"

"I don't know," she said at last. "There are long blank moments in my memory. I...I see images of them, only briefly, every time I look at something that jogs my memory, a familiar face, a thing, something that I've been in contact with. But I don't know what or why unless I see it."

"What did you see when you saw that Sheep?" Glinda asked.

"The Grimmerie," she said. "It's in the Emerald City, somewhere."

Suddenly there was a squawk in the air, and Elphaba flinched, as if it was the sound of a dragon.

"It's nothing, Elphie," Glinda said. "Just a swan flying about."

Elphaba knew Glinda wouldn't believe her if she told her about that night...the night before she met back up with Glinda and Fiyero, before they came to Kiamo Ko. She could only remember pieces of it, but she knew that it involved swans and, how they retold it to her, they must have knocked her off her broom while in flight.

"But I thought the Grimmerie was destroyed, remember?" Glinda asked.

"So did I," Elphaba replied. "But it appears we were wrong."

* * *

><p>The Emerald City. The Capital of Greater Oz, the seat of power of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It was the last place anyone would expect to see the Wicked Witch of the West. She hid, a hood thrown over her head and a scarf over her face. Glinda, though she protested that she'd look better in a green dress with heavy green-shaded spectacles, did likewise.<p>

They came to a point where there was a fork in the Shiz Road: the way leading to the left meandered towards the Emerald City Train Station, while the Palace loomed directly to the right. They took the road that led towards the Palace, but did not go up to the gates but meandered along a lane that would lead them around to the opposite end.

"I thought we were going into the Palace," Glinda whispered. Probably the best idea, since the Wizard would most likely have eyes and ears all throughout the Emerald City.

"No, to the morgue by the Ozma Fountain," Elphaba said.

Glinda made a sound. Death wasn't something Ozians particularly appreciated, and the dreadful irony that a morgue would be placed next to the fountain of Ozma was nigh distasteful.

They passed through into the doors of the mortuary. The receptionist, clad in dark green - even in the Emerald City, they would wear green at a mortuary - asked them their business. Elphaba, face obscured and her hands gloved, presented her copy of the _Emerald Herald_ and pointed to the obituaries.

"Bon Cavalish, eh?" the receptionist asked. "Right this way, ma'am."

Glinda gave Elphaba a quizzical look, but she shushed her quietly.

"Just follow my lead."

Into the long hall, filled with emerald-shaded caskets, they entered. Out of respect for, as far as she could guess, the loved ones of the deceased, the receptionist directed them to number 230.

"You have fifteen minutes," she stated, then promptly left the room.

Once she was gone, Elphaba looked about the wall, looking for number 230.

"Elphie, what's going on?" she asked in hushed tones. "Who do we know who's died?"

"Remember the newspaper?"

"The one you saw back at Kiamo Ko?" she replied.

"Yes," Elphaba said, scanning the caskets. "If my guess is correct, and it usually is, we'll be able to see what happened if he look at the body."

"But I thought it was missing," Glinda stated.

"Read it again," Elphaba said, holding out the paper while she continued searching.

_It is with great sorrow and devastration that three people were reported missing from their homes on the eve of May 18th, in the Twenty-Fifth Year of Our Glorious Wizard._

"When was the 18th?" Glinda asked.

"The night you dressed me up in that pink nightmare," Elphaba replied, her attention still on the searching.

_The Gale Force has been sent on a thorough search of the areas from which they disappeared, the Northtown District of the Emerald City. And while their bodies, living or dead, have not been recovered, the body of a fourth victim, now identified as Trism bon Cavalish, a new recruit to the Gale Force, was discovered in the basement of his apartment in the same area. His..._

"I found it!" Elphaba whispered excitedly.

"Elphie, I don't think that's a good idea." Glinda shook her head.

But Elphaba was starting to pull the casket out of the wall. Despite its size, and how much the recently dead body must weigh, Elphaba's own strength was pulling through.

_Thunk!_ A heavy something fell from out of the morgue wall. Glinda gave a squeal, and before anyone could say anything, the lid was now thrown open. Poor Glinda had to throw her hands over her eyes to keep from screaming or retching in disgust.

Lying in the casket was a body so deformed, so twisted, it looked like it had aged three hundred years in a short while. Not only that, but what little flesh remained on the body was covered with sores and leprous growths. It was also dried and cracked, so that even a slight caress of wind would blow away the flesh as if it were nothing but ash.

Elphaba held her hand out over the body, close enough to feel whatever it was that was coming off it without actually touching the thing.

To Glinda's surprise, Elphaba sprang back with a cry. A sudden madness came over Glinda, or maybe a sudden arrest of her senses over her shock, and she dragged the heavy coffin lid over the decrepit body, that no one may ever see it again. She walked over to Elphaba's side, placing her arms around Elphaba's thin, bony shoulders.

"Elphie, what's wrong?"

But the green woman was staring at the floor, not even responding to Glinda's comfort.

"Oh, Shiz!" Glinda exclaimed. "That storm! I get it! It was Madam Morrible! She was trying to bring you down! Oh, Elphie, we should go now. She might know you're in the city. And think of Nessarose! If she remembers that you have a sister, she might try to hurt her!"

At last, Elphaba spoke. But the voice was not the same. It sounded like it belonged to someone else, someone devoid of hope, of optimism. The voice sounded like the voice of one who had lost everything, the last hope, the last resort, and had nothing left to look forward to but death.

"Nessa can't come to harm," she said, her voice hollow. "She's dead."

Glinda gasped.

"How do you know?"

"Because..." Elphaba sobbed. The two, so rapt in Elphaba's traumatic state, saw not the receptionist take note of them and quietly sneak off to inform the authorities.

Even if they had, what came out of Elphaba's lips next shocked Glinda like a direct hit from a bolt of lightning.

"_I_ killed her."

* * *

><p><strong>(AN:)**


	7. Captured

**(AN: Here's a new chapter for you. Sorry to leave you hanging like that after the last one.)**

* * *

><p><strong>Captured<strong>

_Elphaba's heart leaped with joy as she saw her sister rise to her feet. At last, something good had finally happened. But in her heart, she feared something. She could sense that a change had come over her, as surely as those silver slippers now shone ruby red._

_"Oh, Nessa!" she said._

_I've done what long ago I should _  
><em>And finally from these powers something...<em>

_Nessarose screamed out loud in pain, clutching her stomach._

_"Nessa!" Elphaba cried. "Nessa, what's wrong?"_

_"What did you do?" she replied. "Elphaba, what have you done?"_

_To Elphaba's supreme horror, she saw her little sister's hands turn dark crimson where they held her body. She was bleeding. But it made no sense! The spell she had cast was meant to enchant the shoes to give life to Nessa's life-less legs. It wasn't supposed to hurt her._

_Mmm, so young. Elphaba knew that voice. So beautiful._

_"What did you do to her?" she asked. Nessa had now collapsed to the hard-wood floor, blood spewing out of her mouth._

_"Elphaba, help!"_

_She'd only ever get in the way, it said. She must be removed._

_"But she's my sister!" Elphaba cried, tears now streaming down her cheeks._

_What has she ever done for you? She was your Father's favorite daughter because she was born pink instead of green. She never let you out-live the fact that she was his favorite and you weren't._

_"Please! Don't let her die!" Elphaba cried, grasping in vain at Nessa's fallen body. "She's my sister! I love her!"_

_Love? Love is weakness! You cannot be weak, if you are going to complete our task._

_"Our task?"_

_"What's all the commotion in here?" Elphaba turned about and saw Boq. He was clad in a silver uniform, and looked like he had back at Shiz. But the hopeful, love-sick puppy-dog boy was gone, replaced by a man bitter with resentment._

_"Boq, just leave!" Elphaba cried._

_"In the name of Oz!" he whispered in disbelief._

_"Boq, it's not what it seems!"_

_"You killed her!" he shrieked._

_"Boq, it wasn't me! It was the..."_

_"Go away! Get out of here, you monster! You freak! You murderer!"_

_Suddenly, Elphaba's vision became cloudy, as if she was suddenly drunk. Her neck twisted, though she had not done the act. With horror, she realized that she was not in control of her own body._

_"Why, hello there!" the voice sneered at Boq. Yet it came from her own body. She felt her lips move, her throat vibrate, but she had not meant for those words to be spoken._

_"You're a right pretty little thing, aren't you?" Yackle's voice cawed at Boq._

_"Just stay back!" Boq shouted, reaching for something, anything that he could put between him and this creature. It didn't even look like the frightening Elphaba he knew, but like a hideous, red-eyed caricature of her. He took a step back, and, to his horror, found himself up against the wall._

_"What do you want from me?" he cried. "I never hurt you, I never meant to harm you! I don't want any trouble."_

_It was like the worst nightmare Elphaba ever had: only she knew that she wasn't asleep. She saw her hands reach up and grab Boq by the throat. Blood poured out of unseen holes in his neck, covering her hands. He was drained dry, until he looked like a thing worse than dead._

_With revulsion, she knew that the red that was on her hands wasn't just blood. It was every ounce of health, of youth, of vitality in Boq's poor body. In essence, it was his soul, broken and shattered, lying there in blood-red stains on her hands._

_Like a leech, her body moved towards Nessarose, both hands held out over her body. They quivered and trembled as she tried to regain control over her body, but it was to no avail. Rivers of fire were pouring down her face as she saw her own body devour the soul and essence of her beloved sister Nessarose._

**-~-|-O-|-~-**

_She was becoming more and more faint. It no longer felt as though she were drunk, but as though she were very tired, falling asleep. But somewhere deep inside, beyond her scholastic knowledge, beyond empirical reasoning, she knew that if she fell asleep, she would never wake up again._

_Stay awake, was the one thought that she kept in her head over and over. Stay awake. For Glinda, for Fiyero, for the Animals..._

_She was back in the tunnels that Evian helped her make. Curse his name, that infernal busy-body and his ideals of honor and goodness. It made her stomach turn. Goodness was for weak people, ignorant people, cowardly people. Yackle was anything but weak._

_That's not me!_

_"Is that you?" a voice asked. Her body rounded the corner and she could make out the forms of a Sheep and her family. One of the little lambs ran up to her knees, begging for someone._

_"Where's daddy? Is he gonna be here soon?"_

_The mother pulled her wee ewe back, then looked up at the green woman._

_"I'm sorry," she said. "We're all a little nervous. Has there been any word from my husband?"_

_What could she say? She was quickly losing control, she could feel that in...well, she couldn't feel anything anymore, but she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was losing control. It was slipping out of her grasp (if she could still grasp anything)._

_"Mrs. Frym," she uttered at last. "You have to leave. Right now."_

_"But, Miss Elphaba..."_

_"Go! Now!"_

_"I'm not leaving without my husband," Mrs. Frym stated. "We've been here for three days. Where is he?"_

_She felt tired, oh so tired. No! I can't give in. She needs me, her children need me, I have to reunite them with her hus..._

_"Where is my husband?"_

_The hideous green face turned about._

_"You should really keep quiet, you know," Yackle said to the Sheep. "Animals should be seen and not heard."_

_It was with horror that Elphaba saw herself betray everything she had ever believed in and stood for. Her hands went out and grabbed the Ewe by her neck. The power was so great, the neck snapped off in her blood-stained green hands. The children either cried out in shock or were too stunned to make any movement._

_Her body flew forward, fueled by Yackle's endless hunger for death, for pain; to destroy everything beautiful and lovely and living in the world until there was nothing left to remind her of how hideous she really was._

* * *

><p>Suddenly she was struck on the head by a blunt object. Her vision cleared again. The nightmare was over, but the waking world wasn't much better. Five Gale Force guards stood about her, and one had struck her with his weapon. At her side knelt Glinda, under only one guard. Tears were streaming down her face.<p>

Directly in front of her were the two people she never wanted to see as long as she lived.

"Elphaba," the Wizard said. "I'm glad you're awake. I apologize for the extreme means by which we had to bring you in, but you're not exactly the easiest person to catch, huh?" He chuckled uneasily.

"You may proceed, Madam." he said, turning to his Press Secretary.

"I am honored, Your Ozness!" she bowed. One hand waved to the guards, and then they followed after her into a separate room, carrying Elphaba between them.

"Elphie, no!" Glinda called out to the dark-clad figure. "Bring her back!"

"Glinda dear," the Wizard turned his attention to her. "I'm glad to see you as well. You know, Oz has been worried sick without its patron of Goodness."

"What did you do to Elphie?"

"Madam Morrible would like to have a private word with her," the Wizard said. "In the meanwhile, I think we need to get you cleaned up. You're due to make a public appearance, announcing your return as the ambassador of Goodness before the people!"

"Wait, just like that? Aren't you going to throw me into the Southstairs as Elphie's accomplice?" She didn't care if she was, just as long as she could share a cell with her.

"No, I think you're more use to us alive and in the public spotlight, eh?" He turned to the guards. "Take the Lady Glinda to a state apartment. Give her whatever she asks for, but have her ready within the hour."

The guards began carrying her away, and the Wizard turned his back, ready to walk into the room Madam Morrible had entered with the other guards and Elphaba. Suddenly Glinda espied something.

"That bottle!" she shouted. "The little green bottle!"

"Hold!" the Wizard called. They halted. "Leave us!" They bowed, then turned tail and left the Throne Room.

"Alright, young lady. Out with it." he said to Glinda. "How do you know about this?" He walked over to his cabinet and picked up the green bottle.

"Elphaba has one," she said. "She told me it belonged to her mother."

"Her...her mother?" the Wizard asked. A vacant expression passed over his face, as if he was remembering something from out of some great depth of time.

Suddenly, to her surprise, he laughed.

"What?"

"Don't you get it?" he beamed back at her. "It's perfect!"

I am a sentimental man  
>Who always longed to be a father!<p>

He jumped up, he skipped, he danced, he looked so happy. It made Glinda's head spin a little.

"Ha ha!" he exclaimed. "I'm a father!"

Glinda gasped, throwing her hands over her face.

"Do you mean?" she breathed. "That, all this time, Elphaba was yours?"

"I always knew, deep down inside of me, that there was something about us," he said. "Like I actually knew how she was thinking and feeling." He turned back to Glinda, and saw a look of pure, utter, unadulterated loathing on her face.

"What?"

"You are a very bad man, Your Ozness!"

"What? What did I do?"

"What haven't you done? You've turned all of Oz against your own daughter!"

"Oh, that can easily be remedied! I'm the Wizard of Oz, after all. One proclamation from me and they'll be calling her 'Wonderful!'"

"Do you think she's going to forgive you for all that you've done? To the Animals? To her?"

The Wizard's face fell into sorrow, then suddenly it was filled with concern.

"Oh no!"

"What?"

"She's alone with Madam Morrible. She's interrogating her about..."

"Torturing her, more like."

"I told Madam to keep her alive."

"I don't think she'll be that understanding."

"Come with me." the Wizard said, waving Glinda along as he left the Throne Room.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: Another twist thrown your way! But how will that change? The next chapter shall tell.)<strong>


	8. A Thing of the Past

**(AN: I'm enjoying writing this so far, but I think we can call it quits after this story is done, at least on the _Grimmerie_-series. I feel like I've done what _The Mummy_ movies did - the first one was scary, the second one was just a fun adventure, not that scary. What do you think? Is it scarier, or even darker, in this one, as opposed to the last one? Or am I just making it seem greater than it really is?)**

* * *

><p><strong>A Thing of the Past<strong>

"I will not ask you again, Elphaba," the fish-faced woman glowered angrily. "Where is the book?"

"I told you already," she breathed. "I don't know!"

Morrible waved her hand, and a strong gust of wind sent Elphaba thrown roughly against the wall.

"You cannot lie to me," she returned. "We have your little friend, and I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to get the information out of you, even if it means..."

"You b*tch!" Elphaba shouted. "I'm the one you want, Glinda doesn't know anything."

"Do you think I'm stupid, Elphaba?" she asked. "I remember how close you two were at Shiz. Whatever you may now be, you must feel something for her."

Suddenly, the doors opened.

"Your Ozness!" Morrible exclaimed. "I have not yet extracted the location from her."

"Let her go," the Wizard commanded.

"What?" both Madam Morrible and Elphaba queried at once.

"You heard me," he repeated. "Let the Wizard's Heir go."

They all looked rather shocked by what the Wizard had just let go.

"But, Your Ozness!" the fish-faced Press Secretary exclaimed. "She's is our enemy! She's the Wicked Witch of the West!"

"Do you dare defy Your Wizard?" the very unimposing Wizard, who was actually a bit shorter than the cod-faced Gilikinese woman, returned.

"Your Ozness, I must insist..."

"Guards!" the Wizard announced. They stepped up to the command of their Wizard. "It behooves your Glorious Wizard to place Madam Morrible under house arrest until further notice. Take her away!"

They snapped at attention and dragged Madam Morrible away, who was crying out curses and shouting "No!" as they pulled her out of the room. Glinda, who had been watching this, ran to Elphaba's side.

"Are you alright, Elphie?" she whispered.

"Why are _you_ here?" Elphaba asked. "Playing the nice guy role in this little interrogation?"

"I don't want to interrogate you, Elphaba," the Wizard replied. She gave him a look of disbelief.

"No, really," he said. "You're free to leave if you want."

"I don't believe you," Elphaba replied, rising to her feet. "You must want something."

"Absolutely nothing," he said.

"You mean you'll just let me walk out of the Emerald City? Why?"

The Wizard put on his best sentimental face. "Because it's a father's duty to protect his only child."

Elphaba slowly walked over to the Wizard, her face expressionless. Suddenly, an emerald fist flew out and struck the Wizard square in the face.

"Elphie!" Glinda shrieked.

"You're not my father!" she roared at the Wizard. "And if you were, I think I'd prefer Frex. At least _he_ was honest about what he did."

"Elphaba, please, try to understand..."

"Understand what? What you did to the Animals? To all of Oz?"

"That's easily remedied! Honest! One proclamation and the Animals will be free to do as they please."

"And what will _I_ be doing? Huh! Returning the book to you?"

Pause. Glinda looked at both Elphaba and the Wizard interchangeably. Her green-skinned beloved was scrutinizing the little old man heavily. As for the little old man, he was scrutinizing her question very seriously.

Suddenly, sounding like he'd just found the secret of life, the Wizard spoke.

"I don't need it," he said. "I'd rather be a father than have all the power in Oz."

"I don't believe you!" Elphaba retorted.

"It doesn't matter if you believe me or not," the Wizard said, wiping the blood off his nose and straightening his glasses. "You don't even have to accept that I'm your father. It's enough for me to know that you're my daughter. Oh, Elphaba..."

"Don't say another word! Your lies won't work on me!"

Suddenly, there was the sound of breaking glass, and a voice was shouting: **_INTRUDERS! INTRUDERS IN THE_ PALACE!**

Elphaba and the Wizard looked here and there, and suddenly there was a sound of an explosion. A cry was heard, then two guards came running out of the hallway, screaming and shouting in fright.

"Run, Your Ozness!" one shouted. "She's coming this way!"

"Who? Who's coming?" the Wizard asked.

The doorway suddenly became pitch black. An essence like smoke appeared, flowing out of the hall and into the Throne Room. It manifested itself in a tall pillar, that slowly began to take shape. The shape was tall, slender and feminine. Decked from head to toe in black, with a long cloak of black feathers hanging from a silver pin about the neck: it was fashioned like two swan heads made of silver with ruby red eyes, their wings clasping each other.

Both Glinda and Elphaba gasped. For both of them had seen this figure before.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: Oh noes! Who can it be? It's not Madam Morrible, we know that for certain [i don't think 'slender' is an adjective used to describe her], and it's not Mombi. Who could it be?)<strong>


	9. The Last Debate

**(AN: It's all come down to this)**

* * *

><p><strong>The Last Debate<strong>

The swan-lady walked toward the two women, completely oblivious of the little old man: he was impotent, meaningless to her. These two, on the other hand.

"Hello, ladies," she smiled at them. "Miss me already?"

"You know us?" Glinda asked.

"Why, of course I do," she laughed haughtily. "Did you think I didn't see you that day at Shiz?"

"Who are you?" the blond asked again.

"Oh, I have many names," the swan-woman said. "Sometimes, I think I have as many names as I have years I've lived. You see," she laughed. "I'm the one they call Kumbricia, the Kumbric Witch."

Elphaba laughed. "That's just a story, a fable!"

"You really need to get over yourself," the swan-woman, Kumbricia, said. "And your narrow-mindedness. There's no place for closed minds where I'm taking you."

"And where exactly is that?"

"Beyond your wildest dreams," she smiled. "You see, I know what's inside of you, Elphaba Thropp."

"Oh really? When did you learn that? Before or after you knocked me out of the sky?"

Kumbricia laughed. "Good! You're remembering more and more by the minute! I'm very proud of you. What a sorceress you will make."

None of them said anything, though Elphaba was keeping her eyes fixed on the dark-clad swan-woman.

"But, come come, we don't have all day," she lazily said. "Come with me, and I will give you all the power you want and more." She held out her hand in a gesture of friendship and beckoning towards the two witches.

"I don't want power," Elphaba said.

"No need to lie to me, Elphaba. I've seen inside your heart. You've always wanted it: to be loved, adored, honored, 'held in such high esteem'. I can make that happen for you. You can try to convince yourself that you're earnest about these...Animals, and whatnot, but that's not what you're really about.

"We could rule Oz, you and I. Away with all these Wizards and Adepts and weather sorceresses. We'll see the rights be wronged, we'll make a new Oz, one that will be the envy of all the worlds. It's all within my power, and I'm willing to give it to you."

"At what price?" Elphaba asked.

"Take my hand," Kumbricia said. "Choose me, and all will be well." She smiled. "I promise."

For a moment, it seemed as though Elphaba would accept. Her long-fingered, green hand reached out to grasp Kumbricia's clever, pale one. It hesitated in mid-air, though Glinda was certain that she would accept. She would accept, and then she, Glinda, would be forsaken. What was left for her if Elphaba forsook her like that?

Green met pale, and their hands entwined.

Kumbricia smiled. "Very good, Elphaba. You've made a very wise choice."

What happened next was so fast and so sudden that it took them all by surprise. A brilliant blast of fire, and Elphaba's hand shot back out of Kumbricia's, which in turn recoiled as if burned.

"You wretched little toad!" the Kumbric Witch howled. The fire on her hand subsided, then she turned towards Elphaba, glowering with rage and fuming with her profound anger.

Then, suddenly, she halted. All the anger and hate melted away from her face, and she threw her hands up over her mouth, as if in awe. Suddenly, Elphaba had leaped aside, a squawk echoed from the hallway, and there Elphaba crouched, like a Tiger ready to strike.

In her hands was the Grimmerie.

"Elphie, no!" Glinda called out.

That got Kumbricia's attention, as she quickly realized the pure white swan was only an illusion. Her enemy crouched, hands gripping the spell-book.

"Give me the book!" she demanded.

"How did you find it?" Elphaba queried, her voice shrill and harsh like razor blades.

"The thing that dwells inside it," Kumbricia said, pointing to the book. "It will devour you. It devoured that pathetic little soldier, it almost devoured Morrible, and it will devour you. Give it to me now!"

"I think she's right, Elphie." Glinda muttered.

"Shut up, Glinda!" Elphaba roared, her voice now beyond recognition. "So what, you picked it off his corpse in some back-alley of the Emerald City?"

Kumbricia held out her left hand like a claw, and suddenly the green monster's body became rigid. Slowly and determinedly, she walked towards where the witch had frozen.

"Or did I forget to mention?" Kumbricia asked coily. "I can control Yackle, and with it, everything that it's presence has stained." She waved her hand, and now the green thing fell face-first onto the emerald floor.

"Even you!"

Like a doll in the hand of a rough child, the green thing was tossed about the Throne Room, striking every wall with a heavy hit. Glinda was too mortified to do much. Then again, what could she do, against the most powerful sorceress known to Oz? One so powerful that many revered her as if she were a goddess like Lurline.

"Hey!" the Wizard interjected. "Now listen here, missy! You let the green girl g..."

The green thing came flying back, knocking the Wizard off his feet and onto the ground.

"Elphie!" Glinda cried out. "You've got to let go of the book!" She cried out in fright as she saw her green friend thrown haphazardly against the wall, then come to a slumping rest.

"It's controlling you!" a haggard voice said from the green thing. It was Elphaba's voice, though it came from the monster's lips. "I can feel it right here. You're under her power!"

"Am I?" Kumbricia roared. She waved her hand up, and the green monster was thrown against the wall so hard that Glinda feared she had broken something.

"Elphie!" she cried out, running to the green thing's side.

"How touching," Kumbricia mocked. "The princess loves the monster."

"Elphie's not a monster!" Glinda shouted, turning angry eyes in Kumbricia's direction.

"You think love will save her?" she asked. "Silly girl. That stupid boy gave his life to purge the evil out of her, you'll have to do no less if you want her back."

"She's worth it." Glinda heard herself say.

In one instant, two hands reached out and touched the green monster.

* * *

><p>Three minds flowed through Glinda's subconsciousness.<p>

_"Hate. Kill. Destroy. Burn...Everything!"_

_"Just a little bit more. I can read her mind, I know how to..."_

_"Am I dead? Is this Heaven or Hell?"_

_"Destroy everything!"_

_Glinda found that she could not speak, but her thoughts came to life as she thought them._

_"Elphaba, drop it now."_

_"I've got her now, and I won't let go until I've eaten her, just like her sister!"_

_"Over my dead body!"_

_"Gladly!"_

_"You got that right."_

_"Shut up!"_

_"Elphaba, I love you."_

But at the same moment, one of the other voices said that as well.

_"She's_ _coming!"_

* * *

><p>When Glinda opened her eyes, the Throne Room was in shambles. Her hand was resting on something heavy and cold: the worn leather cover of a book. In fear she pulled it back, afraid to bring back the decrepit claw of some old hag who's blond hair and beautiful Gilikinese features had rotted away into the hideocious face of a monster.<p>

She saw directly upon her, lying with her face quite buried in her bosom, was Elphaba. Nobody else was stirring - not the Wizard, not Kumbricia - and she was tempted to just let sleeping dogs lie and enjoy what she thought she'd never get to enjoy for...well, _ever_.

Her eyes exploded as she saw, floating in the middle of the Throne Room, where the Giant Head should be, a huge transparent bubble. Captured within that bubble, a look of shock plastered across her face, was the Kumbric Witch.

"Elphie!" she roused, nudging the green thing's shoulder.

Drowsily, she pulled herself up. The face was right, Glinda's heart leaped. She was safe.

"Elphie, look!" she indicated, pointing to the giant bubble. "It's splendiforous!"

"What?" the green woman asked. "I didn't cast that."

"What you, you didn't?" Glinda asked. "Well, then, who did?"

They shared a moment of silence, as they both pondered who could have done this. Suddenly, someone made a loud whooping sound.

"_That'll_ put some hair on your back!" the Wizard exclaimed with a smile on his face.

* * *

><p>Now they stood, or rather sat, on three chairs that the Wizard had brought in. Glinda sat, but Elphaba did not. She was too busy pacing before the Wizard.<p>

"Well?" he asked her again.

"Alright, I've got it," she began. "First, I want you to remove the Animals bans: _all_ of them. Second, I want you to clear Glinda's name. Anything connecting her to me, I want it erased. I want any Animals you might have here in the palace released from their cages and given their old jobs back. I want Madam Morrible put in the Southstairs indefinitely, with no hope of parole."

"Anything for yourself?" he asked.

"Yeah," she returned, turning to him. "I want you to leave Oz and never come back."

"Well, that could work," he said, a little absentmindedly. "I've been repairing my balloon in secret ever since I..." Just then he realized something, and stood to his feet.

"What?" Elphaba snapped.

"I'll never see you again."

"I'm tearing up already," Elphaba sarcastically replied.

He sighed.

"Look," he began. "I know you think the worst of me, probably deserve it all. But, I want you to know that I never intended you any harm. Really, I know what it's like to be lonely and have people make fun of you. Heh, my full name is so long, people just call me 'Pinhead' back where I'm from. And you should see the reaction I got from some of the folks back home: they hear a ventriloquist and think he's possessed by the devil!" He let out a pathetic chuckle that vanished before Elphaba's steely glare.

"All I wanna say is that I'm sorry...and I wish that we could make up the time."

She shook her head and pointed out the door. With head hung down, he complied.

"Elphie,"

"What?"

"Don't you remember?" Glinda pipped up. "When we were together, I knew what was in his mind. He really does love you, like a father."

"It doesn't matter," Elphaba replied. "I hate my father, whoever he may be."

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: Rather grim, but we're not done. Not yet, at least.)<strong>

**([SPOILERS FOLLOW!] If you were surprised at what happened with Kumbricia that one time, it's my way of reasoning out that ridiculous, anti-climactic**** way of 'killing her off' in _Glinda of Oz_, where she is turned into a swan who's so vain she can't remember how to use magic and is just obsessed with how beautiful she is. In my mind, she has a thing for swans, like a _major_ thing. That's why I always depict her with a cloak of swan feathers. [they could be Swans, which would fuel Elphaba's disdain for her].)**


	10. What Glinda Did

**(AN: I think I can wrap this story up now.)**

* * *

><p><strong>What Glinda Did<strong>

A day came when the Wizard bade farewell to the people of Oz. He organized a complete ceremony, where he gave a speech about how he would leave in his balloon to confer, converse and otherwise hob-nob with the other Wizards up in the sky. His last decree, as Wizard, was to elect Glinda the Good as ruler of the people of Oz.

Just as he was about to leave, he leaned over to Glinda, clad in a crisp, clean pale blue bubble gown, complete with sparkling tiara and crystal-snowflake-tipped wand, and whispered something in her ear.

The departure went off without a hitch and soon the Wizard had left Oz.

"Well," Glinda said, approaching the Throne Room, where a certain dark-clad figure was reclining in the now vacant seat of the Wizard. "That went well."

"I'm sure it did, my pretty." Elphaba replied.

Suddenly, Glinda let out a loud gasp.

"What?" Elphaba asked. "What is it?"

"We forgot about Dorothy!" she exclaimed. "Oh, dear Oz! She's all alone back at Kiamo Ko, probably afraid out of her little mind."

"Don't worry," Elphaba said. "I'll take care of her."

"Please don't scare her," Glinda stated. "I rather liked that Dorothy girl."

"Rather annoying, if you ask me." Elphaba replied. She made a quick scan of the Throne Room, still rather trashed from the battle with Kumbricia, and picked up her broom-stick and hat. Those had been thrown aside by the guards when she had been captured, and now she was free to retrieve them.

"You will come back, though, won't you?" Glinda asked.

"Maybe," Elphaba smirked. "Maybe not. After all, I'm the Wicked Witch of the West!"

With a devil-may-care laugh, Elphaba shot out of the Emerald Palace. Glinda gave out a sigh, feeling strangely grounded and lonely without her green-skinned companion.

Her thoughts drifted now to the huge bubble floating in the Throne Room. Had she really conjured it to protect them? It seemed so outlandish: Elphaba had always been the one with magical powers. She, Glinda, hadn't really been that great in Madam Morrible's sorcery class - her entrance essay was pretty much all about whether or not wands should be pointed or topped.

But now, grown up and having done things - saving Elphaba and all of Oz from whatever evils lurked inside the Grimmerie - Glinda was a different person. Magic or no magic, she had a job to do, as the new ruler of Oz. She had to put to rights everything that the Wizard and Madam Morrible had ruined.

The Wizard! The Grimmerie! It all seemed so much, such a daunting task. She had hoped to have cleared Elphaba's name and have her helping her with the task that lay before her, but Elphaba hadn't mentioned that to the Wizard, and now she was gone, with the Grimmerie wrapped up tightly in a dark green bag and hanging beneath her cloak. They had decided that, since fire or any kind of weapon known to man (or woman) could not destroy it, they would have to place it beyond the reach of anybody in Oz.

* * *

><p>That night, the new ruler of Oz lay half-awake in her royal bed-chamber. Jellia Jamb, now her official aid, had come through fabulously. She took messages for her, kept the kingdom running while Glinda would be sleeping, and all of that while maintaining such a lovely demeanor and a bright, smiling face.<p>

_She deserves a raise_, Glinda thought.

A dark silhouetted figure appeared on the broad balcony just before her. Glinda called out to the figure by name.

"You wicked old thing," she smiled. "You certainly took your time."

A black, tall-peaked and wide-brimmed hat was thrown to the floor. Their arms entwined, and Glinda let her head lean back as the tall green-skinned woman kissed her. Her heart skipped a beat: at last they would get to do it!

In the dim light of the candle on the nearby vanity, Glinda could see Elphaba's eyes. Dark brown with flecks of gray. She had never seen her mother, and bringing up her sister would just be inappropriate, as would explaining why she would say it. So instead, she whispered into Elphaba's ear.

"You have such lovely eyes."

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: She finally gets to, well, you know. I'll leave what happens next to your imaginations.)<strong>

**(So ends the _Grimmerie_ series, with a lot of ideas taken from _Out of Oz_, if you didn't catch it. What do you think? All's well that ends well? Any questions you might have? I'm open!)  
><strong>


End file.
